The Enormous Cost & Value of Following Jesus

8.17.25  [Luke 14:25-33] River of Life (10th Sunday after Pentecost)

Mercy, grace, and peace are yours in abundance through the faithful finished work of your Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Have you ever experienced sticker shock? Sometimes, we encounter sticker shock when we’re under time constraints. Shrewd sellers figure out when and where buyers are more likely to decide their time is more valuable than money and they capitalize on the opportunity. If you’ve ever had a plumbing or electrical emergency in the middle of the night and had to call someone in, you likely experienced some sticker shock when you got the final bill. On other occasions, we deal with sticker shock because of the location—we don’t have any other options in that particular place. Think about how much more you’re willing to pay for popcorn at the movies or a hot dog at the ballgame. If you saw those prices at the grocery store, you’d pull your hair out! But in those locations, we willingly wait in line and shell out the big bucks—and then complain about it later! 

But popcorn and hot dogs are cheap compared to the really big-ticket items that really make our eyes water. How about an emergency room visit if you don’t have insurance? $2.5k. How about college tuition? $30k if you’re in-state. $50k if you’re out of state. $63k if you attend a private university. How about the average wedding cost? $33k according to TheKnot.com.

Each of these bills make our eyes water, don’t they? It’s not that we don’t value our health, our education, or our marriages—we just didn’t know they were going to be that much, right? 

Today in our Gospel text, Jesus presents a bill that makes our eyes water. He tells us the enormous cost of discipleship. Lk. 14:33 Those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.  

Of course, it should come as no surprise that Jesus is not talking about money. In addressing the large crowds that were going after him, Jesus said: Lk. 14:26 If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 

To anyone familiar with the 10 commandments, this is troubling. But it’s not different. Every time Jesus talks about discipleship, it troubles us. His most common expression is excruciating. My disciples, the ones who follow me, must daily pick up their cross. 

To drive home the point about the enormous cost of following him, Jesus gives us two quick parables. The first is about construction. The second is about warfare. 

What do both parables have in common? They’re both centered on immense undertakings. Building a tower is a monumental task for any individual. It’s the project of a lifetime. It’s a way of leaving a legacy for the next generation. And going to war is a history-shifting event for any king or nation. Both individuals are faced with the prospects of an enormous and costly project.

Jesus says, in both cases, a person doesn’t rush into something like this without careful thought. The builder sits down and estimates the cost. Does he have what it takes to finish the job? The king sits down and evaluates his forces. Does he have the kind of force that can fend off an army twice their size? These are consequential decisions. They demand considerable thought. It’s not a time to roll the dice and just see how things shake out. 

Yet, so often, that’s how we think and talk about discipleship. Just give Jesus a try! What do you have to lose? If he’s real and right, your reward is heaven. If he’s more myth than man or not totally right, you're not losing that much. 

Jesus won’t let us look at following him like we’re buying a spiritual lottery ticket. It’s more like mortgaging the family farm. It’s all in. And that’s scary.

But have you ever wondered why it has to be that way? Why can’t following Jesus be different? Why does the cost have to be so enormous? Why doesn’t Jesus say something like: Those of you who want to be my disciples will get everything you want! Wouldn’t that be more appealing? Wouldn’t more people follow him?

That’s actually what Jesus was dealing with during his ministry. Large crowds were following him and hoping that Jesus would provide the things they really wanted. For some, it was healing. For others, it was free food. For many, it was freedom from Rome’s oppression and restoration for the people of Israel. 

Jesus recognized that if you were only following him for temporal things, your feet might have been hot on his heels, but your heart would still be far from him. This desire to make following Jesus more appealing through temporal means has plagued Christendom throughout history. You hear it in the televangelist who preaches a “name it and claim it” kind of false gospel. 

The English explorer, William Dampier, had a crushing critique of mission work that tries to buy souls rather than win them through the Gospel. He said the French priests in Tonkin had converted more souls through their gifts of rice than through their preaching. 

Discipleship that is driven by “what I can get from God” is always deceitful and disastrous. But why does the cost of following Christ have to be so enormous? Why can’t it be a net neutral? 

Discipleship is costly because following Jesus puts us in the crosshairs of the Evil One and because dying to sin is a painful struggle. Discipleship has an enormous cost because it also has enormous eternal value. 

Remember how Satan tried to tempt our Savior in the wilderness. All these kingdoms are mine, he claimed. I will give them to you. You can rule them as you please. I’ll give you all their authority and splendor, so long as you bow down and worship me. Satan knew that Jesus had left behind the splendor of heaven. He came down from the throne that was always his. Satan offered a shortcut, an easier path, a more comfortable way of advancing his kingdom. He does the same to Jesus’ followers. Satan tells us that following Jesus shouldn’t inconvenience us. It doesn’t have to make us uncomfortable. We shouldn’t have to make sacrifices. 

Our sinful nature joins the demonic chorus. It is quick to point out that there are many people who just believe in Jesus and live like the rest of the world. They live comfortably. They aren’t uncomfortable or ostracized. They don’t make sacrifices. Why should you? 

At times, our friends and even our flesh and blood may echo these views. When we follow Jesus closely—with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength—we may have friends who question why we aren’t fun anymore. We may have family members who ridicule our hungering and thirsting for righteousness. You’re going to church again!? You just went last week! They may even accuse us of wasting our money, our time, our gifts, our very lives! You know your life would be so much better if you weren’t throwing it away!

They react this way because they recognize the enormous cost of discipleship. It’s not some hobby. It’s a way of life because we are following the One who tells us that he is the Way and the Life. 

But there is not just an enormous cost to following Jesus. There is also an enormous value hidden in following Jesus. Because as we follow Jesus, as we deny ourselves and make painful personal sacrifices, we are drawn deeper into the mercy & grace of our God. 

We recognize that, on our own, we cannot afford to build a tower that lifts us up to heaven. We realize that, on our own, we do not have the strength to oppose the Evil One who is coming against us with demonic forces. The spiritual sticker shock sets in. And that helps us appreciate the cost our Christ has paid all the more. Because we have a Savior who has built the tower to the heavens and secured eternal peace for us.

Jesus made a bold construction promise. Jn. 2:19 Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days. The crowd assumed he was talking about the Temple in Jerusalem, but he was talking about his body. He promised that even after the people destroyed the body of his Temple, even after he tasted death, he would rise again. And they mocked him for it. As he was laying the foundation for this towering act, they ridiculed the Lord of truth. He saved others, but he cannot save himself. Come down from the cross and we will believe you. But Jesus was devoted to seeing the project of our salvation through. He finished the work the Father gave him, even though it required pain and shame, death and hell. He went to war on our behalf. Alone, he crushed the head of the Great Deceiver, Satan. He gave up everything so that we might be his own and enjoy his glory. That’s the Jesus who calls you and I to follow him. 

So how do we do that? We spend time with him in Word & Sacrament. We learn what makes him tick—what brings him joy and what makes him righteously angry. We begin to grasp the heights & depths of his love. 

The more we watch and listen and learn of his mercy and grace, the more we are conformed into his likeness. By the power of the Holy Spirit, our minds will be renewed and transformed. We see even matters of life and death differently because we’ve seen the Author of Life triumph over death for us. 

And that same Jesus will equip us to do for others and he has done for us. We are not called to die for their sins. But we will serve them, rather than serving ourselves. We will love them as our own, even though they are not our flesh and blood. We will forgive them when they sin against us, because Christ has done that for us and assures others through us. We will proclaim that the kingdom of God has come near and call lost souls to follow our living Savior. 

And when they experience sticker shock, we will be there to reassure them. So many things in this life are eye-waveringly expensive. But following Christ ultimately provides eternal value. Amen.